Good Morning, Brooklyn: Monday, August 29, 2022

August 29, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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HUMAN CHAIN/PRAYER SERVICE CELEBRATES SOLIDARITY WITH UKRAINE: As part of a prayer service recognizing Ukrainian Independence Day, (marked earlier this week on August 24), Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello, Pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation Parish, on Sunday morning led a Human chain between two churches in Williamsburg — from Annunciation Roman Catholic Church (corner of North 5th and Havemeyer streets, to Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Church (North 5th Street and Driggs Avenue). After Mass, Ukrainian Catholic Church Bishop Paul Chomnycky of the Eparchy of Stamford led the prayer service, at which Frank Carone, Chief of Staff to Mayor Eric Adams, was among the guest speakers.

Heightening this expression of solidarity is the ongoing conflict between the Ukraine and Russia that began more than six months ago. For more, view VIMEO Link: https://vimeo.com/743989740, courtesy of DeSales Media.

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IN MEMORIAM: BROOKLYN ACTOR AND PRODUCER BOB LuPONE: Brooklyn-born Bob LuPone, 76, a Tony Award nominee in the original run of the Broadway hit “A Chorus Line,” who later helped found and lead the influential off-Broadway theater company MCC Theater for almost 40 years, has died. Lupone, who was fighting pancreatic cancer, was the brother of Broadway star Patti Lupone.

When founded, MCC stood for Manhattan Class Company, with the mission of creating new work for the American stage, according to MCC’s website.

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ADA UPGRADES TO BEGIN ON SUBWAY STATIONS IN SOUTHERN BROOKLYN: Work to install long-awaited elevators and other accessibility upgrades at the Sheepshead Bay B/Q and Kings Highway F stations is scheduled to begin in mid-2023, Assemblymember Steven Cymbrowitz (D-45) announced today, following years of appealing to the MTA to install elevators at these busy stations, and offering capital to make the upgrades possible. Plans will include elevators, tactile guideways for people with vision impairment, and other complementary design features to make the stations fully accessible.

These projects will be expedited using “design-build,” of which Assemblymember Cymbrowitz has long been an outspoken proponent. Design-build allows designers and contractors to work together from the beginning rather than going through the typical lengthy bidding process.

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PLEADS GUILTY TO PLOTTING TERROR ATTACK IN QUEENS: United States Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy on Friday received a guilty plea in Brooklyn federal court from Awais Chudhary, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization. According to court filings, in August 2019, after watching violent terrorist propaganda videos, Chudhary pledged his allegiance to ISIS’s then-leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and began planning for a knife or bomb attack as a lone wolf ISIS supporter.

Chudhary, who was arrested when attempting to retrieve the paraphernalia, from an online retailer’s locker in Queens, faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced later this year.

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GENDER-BASED PRICING IS ILLEGAL, STATE REMINDS CONSUMERS: Gender-based pricing of consumer services and products, also known as “pink tax,” is illegal in New York State, the NYS Division of Consumer Protection (DCP) reminds consumers, in a memo issued to honor Women’s Equality Day. Gender-based pricing, the practice of charging different prices for substantially similar goods or services marketed to women, has been a longstanding practice but was prohibited in New York starting in 2020.

When issues arise with New York State merchants charging different prices based on gender, consumers are encouraged to file a complaint with DCP and the State Attorney General’s Office, to seek return of the difference between the higher- priced and lower-priced gender-marketed item or service paid to a New York State merchant, and including evidence of noncompliance, which may include pictures of the advertised items and prices, purchase receipts, and merchant’s location details.

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STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS PROGRAM EXPECTED TO BENEFIT ABOUT HALF OF LATINO BORROWERS: About half of all Latino student loan borrowers are expected to have their entire debt forgiven under the plan announced Wednesday by President Joe Biden, according to a report from NBC News. Among Latino undergraduate students who began their postsecondary education in 2012, 51 percent borrowed funds to pay their undergraduate or graduate education, according to Excelencia in Education, one of the nation’s leading educational think tanks focused on Latino college completion.

The Biden administration is canceling up to $10,000 in federal loan debt and an additional $10,000 if the student was a Pell Grant recipient.

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NYU TANDON WINS $3 MILLION AWARD TO RESEARCH TERAHERTZ TECHNOLOGY: NYU WIRELESS, an innovative academic research center at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering with a focus on 5G and beyond, is poised to lay the groundwork for the emerging terahertz (THz) realm of the radio spectrum, along with its tantalizing possibilities (and challenges) for mobile communications, thanks to funding from the National Science Foundation for a new THz Measurement Facility. The $3 million award from the 2022 NSF MRI Program will help NYU and its collaborators, the University of Colorado at Boulder, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, and Florida International University, pioneer basic measurements of devices, circuits, materials, and radio propagation channels at the highest reaches of the radio spectrum.

Some new applications of THz technology could include see-in-the-dark sensors, and revolutionary imaging and communications technologies to Tricorder-like medical devices. Realizing the potential of this underused region of the electromagnetic spectrum will require a solid foundation in THz device modeling and measurement.

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NYU TANDON CREATES NEW PROTEIN TO AID IN COVID DETECTION AND TREATMENT: Researchers from across New York University, under the leadership of Jin Kim Montclare, Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at NYU Tandon School of Engineering, have created a new protein that has an increased ability to bind to viruses, creating a more efficient tool in the fight against COVID-19. The secret is creating a version of ACE2 that mimics a multivalent assembled protein (MAP), similar to naturally occurring antibodies.

Because the biomaterial proteins were discovered to be much more effective at attaching themselves to viral bodies, it would require fewer of them compared to the natural antibodies currently used in tests and therapeutics, thus creating potential uses in both detection and treatment.

Jin Kim Montclare
Photo: NYU Tandon School of Engineering

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AMICUS BRIEF SAYS STATE LAW VIOLATED ON SCHOOL BUDGET PROCESS: The New York Civil Liberties Union submitted an amicus brief in support of parents and teachers who allege that the Department of Education (DOE) violated state law by denying them opportunity to provide critical public comments about how hundreds of millions of dollars in school budget cuts would impact them. The brief argues that the DOE’s failure to complete the full public comment period on its budget and hold the city’s school board (Panel for Educational Policy or PEP) vote prior to the City Council’s vote on the City’s overall budget led to a lack of community input and thwarted the New York State legislature’s intention to involve the public in decisions regarding education.

As a result, City Council members voted for the budget without fully understanding its impact, which will affect at least 77 percent of DOE schools and range from the elimination of teaching positions to cutting entire programs in some schools — including those for students with disabilities and English Language Learners.

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LEASING BEGINS AT NEW MONTAGUE RESIDENTIAL BUILDING: Leasing has begun at the new luxury residential rental and retail offering at 200 Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights, developers Aurora Capital and Midtown Equities announced on Friday, August 26. The international firm Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners designed the 20-story, 121-unit rental building, paying homage to the neighborhood’s historic architecture with its verticality, rhythmic dark facade, a polished black granite base, profiled piers, bronze-tone metal detailing, and charcoal grey colored window frames.

Apartments range in size from one- to three-bedroom apartments, starting from $3,500 per month.